A Matter of Trust
by Still Waiting for Aliens
Summary: A brief series of vignettes and short stories chronicling the years after the end of the war, but mostly focusing on the relationship of Mako and Raleigh. Appearances by Tendo, Newt, Hermann, Herc and some OCs in later chapters.
1. Security

**A/N: **Yes, the title comes from the Billy Joel song.

* * *

Mako is both surprised and unsurprised when she wakes up with the fading images of Raleigh Becket swirling in her mind. This is not the first time he's figured in her dreams, but it is the first time he's figured so…prominently. In fact, much of her surprise originates from how it's taken this long, almost a year for her dreams to take this turn. It's not uncommon, after all, for co-pilots to develop certain emotions, it's simply an effect of the Drift. The Kaidanovskys became who they were because of those effects, and there even were a couple of cases where those emotions defied one or both pilot's previously held convictions. But she had believed that she was free of that effect until now.

She rolls over in her bed, staring up at the white ceiling of her Vancouver hotel room, and tries to deduce just why he appeared in the subconscious ramblings of her sleeping mind. True that they're no longer in the same room; it's only the second night in a long time she felt ready to try to brave sleep entirely on her own. (In the aftermath of the assault on The Breach, Mako and Raleigh had taken to sleeping near each other. On the floors of each other's rooms in the Shatterdome; in chairs in each other's hotel rooms when they started being dragged here, there, and everywhere by reporters wanting exclusives; and finally in the same bed when there wasn't a chair and the floor was just too questionable for Mako to let Raleigh be a "gentleman" and sleep on it. It wasn't out of a physical attraction, but a need to be close to each other and protect each other from the nightmares. It was Drift-Hangover. They were always within arms reach of each other, too scared by the way the outside world was to let that security go. They let the reporters book them two rooms, always near each other, but only ever used one.)

Also, it's true that she thinks she might be ready to try to live again, after so much fear and pain and doubt and talking to the UN subcommittee and time. True that Raleigh is her best and closest friend. True that she feels like she still doesn't have a proper place in this world; that she doesn't know where she belongs or where her home is (home had been wherever _sensei _was, but he left this world). None of her musings really answer her question.

Just as she rolls back over to attempt sleep again, there's the quietest of knocks at her door.

"Mako? You awake?"

She is, in fact, awake, but awake and ready to greet a late-night visitor are two drastically different things. The first night he had sleepily padded into her room because of a nightmare that only she could understand, she had been dressed like she usually was for bed: a tank top and tiny shorts. Raleigh had blushed at the sight of her and focused on the ceiling, trying to avoid looking at her body. She couldn't fault the guy for trying to be a gentleman, even though he knew her body almost as well as she did, and Mako eventually bought some pj pants so he'd feel less awkward and more inclined to talk at her, not the walls.

But now, with him on the far side of the door, and the room empty of his presence, she had slipped back into old habits. Unable to find her old shorts, she had settled on wearing a pair of boyshort panties instead. She considers her state of dress and decides to find a pair of pants before she opens the door.

Raleigh knocks again. "Mako?"

She concludes she has to answer him, even with the pants not found. Her other half needs her and to leave him out in the hallway would be cruel. She slides her bare feet into flip flops and walks silently to the door.

"Raleigh?" she asks as she opens the door. She already knows he's out there, but she leaves the latch on, just in case.

"I can't sleep," he answers. "They're all there every time I close my eyes."

She doesn't need to ask who "they" are, and she lets him in.

"I'll take the chair," he says. He's obviously tired, since he's practically stumbling over his own feet. She briefly wonders if that's why he hasn't really looked at her, and reacted like a blushing virgin (which she knows he's not).

Raleigh starts to stumble, so Mako takes him by the shoulders and guides him toward the bed, forcing him to sit on the edge while she helps him take off his shoes. "Lay down," she says to him.

"I said 'chair'," he mutters.

"Raleigh, you need to sleep. Just lay down." She pushes on his shoulders, an ineffectual attempt to get him to lay down. "Did you sleep at all last night?" Raleigh is very good at functioning off little sleep, but he can only take so much of it.

He shakes his head.

"Please, Raleigh," Mako begs. He has a stubborn streak to match her own, and even now it shows.

"Only if you do, too."

The words shouldn't make her feel anything other than the relief of knowing that he will sleep. But they do. A strange tingle runs through her back. She chalks it up as the lingering effects of the dream, and pushes it away. "Alright." She climbs in next to him, and after a moment, she raises a hand to rub circles on his back, since she knows it helps him sleep.

But Raleigh doesn't fall asleep. He rolls around and grabs her hand, bringing her knuckles towards his lips.

Mako can feel her pulse suddenly race.

"Thank you," he murmurs against her skin,"for everything."

Of its own volition, her hand caresses the side of his face, feeling the faintest suggestion of stubble. "You're welcome," she whispers,"for everything."

The next morning when she gets up to brush her teeth, that's when he turns six shades of pink, stares intently at the ceiling and mumbles something about needing to shave, so could she hurry up and get dressed?


	2. Companionship

One year later...  
After those two nights they tried being apart, they gave up any thought of trying it again. They moved their stuff into old Ranger quarters at the 'dome; shared a tent when Raleigh convinced her that she needed to see Yosemite; and had even contemplated getting a house somewhere quiet when it was all over. They never told the press though; even after all this time, they were clambering for news of the world's heroes. The need for each other had become less and less, but it had become a habit, a ritual for which neither cared to leave behind just yet.

This time they're sharing a room in a hotel in NYC, part of a UN hearing about the final fate of the Jaeger program. The UN had booked a block of rooms for "the team", but Mako had dropped her stuff in his and never even bothered to see her own. It's been a while since they've shared a single bed; there are fewer and fewer interviews and tour locations and UN subcommittee meetings. Raleigh is not sure if he's surprised or not that she chose to be with him.

They jostle each other for mirror space when they get ready for bed, just like they always do, and just like they will when they get ready in the morning.

Mako's standing on the bed when he comes out of the bathroom. "I've never jumped on a bed before," she muses aloud. "Think I should try it?"

"I think you'll hit your head if you try."

"I'm not that tall." But she shrugs and climbs down anyway before she pulls the covers up to her chin.

"Five little monkeys, jumping on the bed," sings Raleigh. When she raises her eyebrow at him, he continues, "One fell off and bumped his head. Momma called the doctor and the doctor said 'No more monkeys jumping on the bed.'" He throws the covers back and lays down. "One little Mako, jumping on the bed," he starts teasing her, poking at her blanket-covered sides, "She fell off and bumped her head. Raleigh called the doctor and the doctor said, 'No more Mako jumping on the bed.'"

She smiles at him and laughs. "You're silly."

He loves that smile and that laugh and he loves to be the cause. He loves to bug her, and annoy her, and tease her much like the way he used to love to annoy Yancy. They are still a part of each other, and his happiness depends on hers and vice versa. He grins back at her.

She stars to curl up to sleep (she always sleeps curled up around the pillow), and Raleigh feels a sudden pang of jealousy. Yes, jealous of a pillow. He has never held Mako for the simple pleasure of it. He has held a trembling Mako in his arms, trying to soothe away the terrors that haunt her dreams; but far more often she has gathered his quaking body against hers to anchor him as he rides out his own fears. He's fairly certain that she can feel whatever fears he deals with; just as he can sometimes feel hers. Ghost-drifting, they call it. The lingering connection of two minds.

He looks at her, and she looks back, her expression bearing the slightest hints of question. _Maybe we're ghost-drifting now_, he thinks. When Raleigh reaches an arm towards her, she's already pulling herself closer, as if she can read his thoughts (which she practically can) or as if there are magnets in their skin, forcing them together (which there aren't, but sometimes he wishes there were).

Mako fits so neatly against him, as if his body was designed to perfectly accommodate the shape of hers. So he pulls her closer and runs a hand through her short, thick hair. She lets out a quiet sigh in response and nuzzles closer to him. "Go to sleep, Raleigh," comes her quiet whisper.

He can feel sleep pulling at him, and it already has the best grip on him it has had in many nights. But he doesn't want to succumb, not just yet. He wants to explore this new, strange facet to their relationship: what exactly it is, where it comes from, what it means, and why it already feels so good.

"I'm not that sleepy," he mutters back at her, sounding more like a two year-old than a grown man. His statement is punctuated by a yawn.

From the way Mako shifts against him he can guess that his response wasn't sufficient. "You. Need. Sleep." She pushes herself up and glares at him.

Any other moment, he might have been intimidated by her glare, but in this one, Raleigh finds it cute. So he laughs.

She glares more.

And he laughs more.

So she grabs a pillow and smacks him with it. He only laughs harder before returning the blow with his own. At first she looks incensed, but then she starts laughing and the two of them hit each other with pillows, late at night, despite their lack of sleep.

When the pillows are finally settled back on the bed, the atmosphere from before is gone. That moment has passed and they fall asleep as they have many nights, two bodies on one bed, not touching, but just within arms reach.


	3. Intertwined (alt title: Changes, pt1)

Thank you, readers, followers, and reviewers for your time and appreciation. More reviews are always appreciated, though!

* * *

Four years after The Breach was sealed, two letters are left on Kodiak Island, one addressed to "Ranger Mako Mori", the other to "Ranger Raleigh Becket". The old Jaeger Academy had become a retirement home of sorts for them, and anyone else who has had trouble going back to civilian life. Everyone there enjoys the isolation from the population, and the company of others who had shared or similar experience. Others from different parts of the program return to reconnect with their peers, to have someone to talk to, or to just reminisce. A portion of the facility became K-Science labs, where old officers and new scientists preform ongoing research into the environmental effects of the kaiju. There's acknowledgment from the UN that maintaining Jaeger facilities and equipment (much of it pulled from Oblivion Bay) is of benefit in the event that the kaiju attack again, or the Earth is attacked by other forces. The restoration of the old mechs and the design of new ones is taken at a moderate pace, in part because there is no pressure and in part because the Jaeger Program budget is a fraction of its former size.

Mako drops the envelope onto Raleigh's bunk. "You've got mail, Mr. Becket," she sings.

"Fanmail?" he asks and she shakes her head. She knows better than to give him those letters.

"'Dear Miss Mori,'" Mako starts reading from hers, "'I am an independent filmmaker interested in creating a documentary about the Jaeger program, from its early days to the end. As you are one of the few remaining Jaeger pilots and were instrumental in much of the program, I would like to ask for both your permission and for the opportunity to interview you.' Then there's information about his plans for the film and how to contact him. '_Arigat__ō_, Travis B. Hammel, filmmaker'. What does yours say?"

"Same thing, but it doesn't say '_arigat__ō_'," he chuckles. "There's a note at the bottom, 'CC: Ranger Mako Mori, Marshal Hercules Hansen, Dr. Newton Geiszler, Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, Tendo Choi.' Think he sent this to all of them?"

Mako nods and strides out of the room towards the office where the mail is delivered and kept. Raleigh follows her out and walks beside her.

They sit on the floor and search through the pile of mail that rests on the floor waiting for the day when Herc will finally feel like going through it. In the months immediately after the Final Assault, none of them had looked at their mail. Raleigh had ignored his, and when he finally did get around to looking at the stack, he had destroyed letters by the handful without even opening them. Mako had taken her time getting around to it, but had patiently sorted the pile, opening all the envelopes and saving a few of her favorite messages from little kids. There was a drawing by a Michael M, five years old, of himself next to Gipsy with the words "Thank You!" that she had saved. Moh Su-Bahn, a girl of three, sent her a drawing of a butterfly and flowers, and Jesús S, who had been eleven, had drawn a picture of Stacker, Chuck, the Wei Triplets and the Kaidanovskys as spirits with angel wings watching over her. He had even carefully written a short prayer in Japanese, which his sister had helped him find and translate (he had said so in his letter).

Mako, with her sharp eyes, is the one who finds the envelope they are seeking. As they leave, they see a stack of three letters on the desk, conspicuously out of place.

"Dr. Newton Geiszler, Care of Jaeger Academy. Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, Care of Jaeger Academy. Mr. Tendo Choi, Care of Jaeger Academy," reads Raleigh. "I guess they've managed to disappear. Well, Newt's still around here sometimes, so his address is fair enough." (He's often in the K-Science labs overseeing the research.)

Mako shakes her head. "No. Drs. Gottlieb and Gieszler have teaching positions and could be easily looked up and located by searching the internet. Mr. Choi returned to his wife. He may be unlisted, but Alison is not. I think Mr. Hammel sent these here for a reason."

"Reason being?"

The look she directs at him screams "please tell me you aren't that dense".

"You're thinking that he's asking our permission, and Herc's, first."

"If he makes a film, the memories it would most tear into and affect would be ours. _Sensei_, Chuck, Yancy, they'll all be there. He's trying to be courteous."

Mako returns to their room, holding all four unopened envelopes. Raleigh excuses himself to the gym. She knows he does that to clear his mind and to think, especially to think without any stray bits of her mind floating in.

Later that day, they meet up in the mess. One of Cherno Alpha's techs, Natasha Golovanova, had teamed with Ahn Sungjim, a LOCCENT officer, and made a dinner that neither Mako nor Raleigh recognizes under a specific name. It tastes good enough, but the vegetables are a little overcooked. Jaime Martinez makes his opinion on the lack of spice clear when he shouts something as he dumps red pepper flakes all over his plate.

Mako and Raleigh eat across from each other at a table, and he sneaks scraps to Max, who sits at his feet. "So, what do you think?" he asks her at last.

"About the film?"

"About the film," he agrees.

"We should ask Herc first. He is still Marshal."

Raleigh nods and feeds Max another scrap of beef.

When they leave the hall, they head by unspoken accord to Herc's room. Herc is always tired, frustrated and edgy these days, still lost in his own mind. He has to deal with being the Marshal, and the main contact for the UN, and being in charge of the Academy and (technically) the Hong Kong 'dome, even though the de facto head of operations there is a woman by the name of Teresa. He's healing so painfully slowly, an opinion held by many people including, perhaps, himself. Raleigh and Mako, they had each other to help them through their grief, even though Raleigh's was so much older and weightier and settled into his psyche. Herc had—and still has—no one, just the emptiness of where his son used to be in his head and his heart and his soul. He is so proud of Chuck and his sacrifice and what they all did, but he struggles to forgive himself for not being in Striker.

Mako knocks first. "Mr. Hansen?" she calls, careful not to call him Marshal or to call him Herc right away.

He opens the door and sees the two of them standing there. "What is it, kids?" he asks. (Mako and Raleigh are _his _kids to him. They don't need adoption, but he's adopted them anyway. In its own little way, it helps.)

Mako asks if they can come in. Raleigh lets her do all the talking, since she's read the letter multiple times over and is simply better at talking, even if she's not speaking her native language.

Herc sits back in his chair, and takes a deep breath. "Let's do it," he says to the surprise of the other two. "Hell, he can interview me and put me in front of a camera. Maybe, if I do this, I can finish

what—what I've never really begun."

Mako and Raleigh talk to each other late into the night, wondering aloud how this might affect them.

The next day, Mako puts the other three letters into new envelopes, adds a note about how Herc has agreed to let it happen, and writes in her careful handwriting their personal addresses. A few days later, all six have video conference call, wherein they discuss if any topics are off limits and decide that the Drs. Enriquez should be included, provided they both agree and can be pulled away from whatever hospital they're now at.

Mako calls Mr. Hammel, and lets him know that he's cleared to start production. He is overjoyed and repeatedly thanks her.

Herc sends out a general email to anyone still associated with PPDC, letting them know what has been proposed and approved and will be happening, and asks that anyone who doesn't want to be part of it let him know. He signs it "Marshal Hansen, Pan Pacific Defense Corps, Jaeger Academy". The significance is not lost on anyone.

Mr. Hammel shows up with a crew a few weeks later. It's very minimal in size, just himself and about three or four others. When they get off the helicopter with their gear (which is not as minimal as the crew), Herc walks over to say hello.

"Mr. Hammel, I'm Marshal Hercules Hansen. Welcome to Kodiak Island and the Jaeger Academy. Mako Mori and Raleigh Becket are inside, and the rest will join us at the Shatterdome."

The filmmaker extends his hand and shakes Herc's warmly. "Pleasure, Marshal Hansen. And please call me Travis." He is a man of average height and build, with a rounder than oval, but not round, face. His hair is dark and styled to stand up slightly.

He introduces the rest of his crew over dinner, and the next day, Travis is filming the Academy, trying to get all the footage of the grounds he thinks he needs. Either Mako or Raleigh goes with them, since the PPDC can't afford to have him poking his nose somewhere classified by accident.

On the second day after his arrival, Travis asks if he can begin doing interviews, starting with Herc. "No pressure," he adds. "I might record you, but it's more so that I can have the information there, and perhaps have someone narrate it, than to put your footage anywhere in the film. Unless you want it to be there."

The film crew sets up an empty room with a boom mic and reflectors and lights and their three cameras. Herc and Travis sit in chairs across from each other, while Mako and Raleigh watch. Travis starts by asking simple questions, trying to get Herc to relax and open up.

"How did it feel when your son came here?" he queries after many questions and more minutes.

Herc's jaw visibly tenses and his throat starts working. "I...he...we..." He suddenly stands up and walks out of the room, just a little too fast.

Raleigh turns to catch him. "Don't bother," says Travis. "I told him before I got here that we'd take his interview at whatever pace he wanted, do it in whatever blocks he wanted, and that he could stop me at any time. He doesn't have to do anything for me. So let him be, okay, Raleigh?" He stretches in his chair. "How about you, Miss Mori? Would you like to go next?"

"If you want me to," she replies.

"This is not some television spot or UN hearing. We're only doing things if you want to."

She looks at Raleigh, who shrugs. _It's up to you_, she reads from his expression and from the little bits of connection they still have. She nods and sits down in the chair.

Travis asks questions about her days at the Academy and Mako answers. Raleigh listens and watches. He knows her stories, from her early childhood to Onibaba's attack (he knows that a bit too well, maybe), to Stacker and Tasmin to Jaeger Academy to the day they met. But it's different to hear her say the words and weave the story, as opposed to living her memories. Sometimes, when Travis is wanting to hear more of a story, and he leaves the list of questions on his tablet behind and lets her guide the flow.

One thing is clear, though, he has nothing but respect for his subjects. When Mako shakes her head, he simply jumps to another question. He tries to ask things in chronological order, but will ask for information from an earlier year for clarification or if he had skipped a long period of time as a result of avoiding uncomfortable questions.

The crew wraps filming for the day, and heads to the visitors' quarters to look at the film. Travis walks away speaking animatedly to one of the crew, a twenty-something young woman with red streaks in her black hair. She listens and nods and sometimes says something back. It's hard to get a word in edgewise when he's being enthusiastic.

Travis spends eleven days on Kodiak Island, filming the empty rooms of the building, getting shots of the labs. He even manages to get a couple of residents to dress in old cadet uniforms, and he films them sparring, as if they were in training years and years ago. He interviews Raleigh, who isn't inclined to talk on film, so Travis turns off the cameras and pulls out an audio recorder.

A subtle tension has been building around and between both Mako and Raleigh. They've been in each other's heads, but they're laying themselves bare to each other, something they haven't done in years, and a total stranger, something they've never done. Sometimes, during interviews, they hesitate while they try to completely separate the memories.

"That was my story," Raleigh hisses one evening after she mentioned something about bars and meaningless nights. "You had no right to mention that, even in passing."

"Your memories are in my head, remember? Sometimes, one thing triggers another. You've done it too. Herc's probably added Scott's and Chuck's memories in there by accident." Herc's been alternating between taught as strung bow and relaxed as gentle snowfall in mountain heights, but it's the best he's been in a long time. "Try to not blow this out of proportion," Mako continues.

Raleigh grunts and turns out of their shared bathroom.

When they leave for the Shatterdome, all three are visibly out of it: tense and scared and unsure. Travis starts talking to his crew again, but none of the PPDC so much as move.

Teresa, her graying brown hair an aurora around her head, greets them on the landing pad. "Hey, Herc," she says, "nice to see you." She gives him a quick hug, and he returns it. "You're looking good." He smiles. She whispers something that no one can hear, and he actually chuckles.

"_Anata wa mada korera no orokamono de burasagatte iru(1)_?"she calls to Mako.

"_Hai_," replies Mako. "_Anata no nihonjin wa sugurete iru.(2)_"

Teresa smiles. "_Sore wa yoi kamote ita! Ima renshū ni ōku no jikan ga arimasu(3)._ Well, come on everyone!" She pivots on her heel and gestures with her right hand.

She leads them straight to the corridor where they'll all be staying. Mako reaches for Raleigh's hand and gives a quick squeeze. It's the hallway where their story starts, where they became a unit instead of two individuals. It's still the same industrial gray, and the welds show in the metal. There are new spots of rust, but otherwise the hallway is a timecapsule.

Tendo and Newt are already there, and meet their old friends with laughter and embraces. Newt is the most animated, easily moving between all of them with enthusiasm. Tendo is more reserved, but as soon as Mako makes a mention of his son, he pulls out his phone and shows everyone pictures of the little guy. The Drs. Enriquez are already full of questions for Raleigh about his arm and his scars and how they've healed or not healed, as if they weren't the ones to personally oversee his recuperation after Operation Pitfall. Hermann arrives while the rest are at dinner, and Travis gets low-quality, camera-phone footage of their interaction, an image of a world that is now gone. He plans to cut it into still frames and use them as photos in the film.

The next morning, Travis starts a rough approximation of the last days of the Jaeger program. They start in the bay, where he asks Tendo and Mako to talk about restoring Gipsy Danger.

"I'd known Gipsy since she was new," Tendo reminisces. "I was there when she was first launched and when she went down. But she never was to me what she was to Mako."

Mako smiles. "Gipsy was just another Jaeger until she came in here in all her pieces. The more I worked to restore her, the more she became _my_ Gipsy. I felt like I couldn't trust her with anyone, that they'd somehow disrespect her."

On the other side of the camera, Raleigh smiles as he listens to her talk about the process of falling in love with Gipsy, how she came to think of Gipsy as so much more than a mech, but a living personality. The girl with the red-streaked hair catches his eye.

"You're cute," she says suddenly. "Especially when you smile."

He's taken aback for a moment. "It took a while to re-learn the motion."

"But you did it. And the world is a better place for it. That smile probably launched a lot of teenage crushes back in the day."

"It launched a lot more than that, too."

She laughs and touches his shoulder. "I'd be surprised if it hadn't, Raleigh. Pilot or not, you're quite the looker."

He smiles back. "Am I?"

In front of the camera, Mako watches their interaction and tenses. Something coils inside her. That girl isn't just talking with Raleigh, and she doesn't like it. Raleigh isn't hers, but he's her copilot. The idea of someone being in the middle of that irks her somehow. _But any attraction I had to him is long over, _she tells herself. She wants to think that she laid those feelings to rest, but deep down, she knows it's a lie.

After what seems like an eternity to Mako, they break for lunch. Raleigh sits across from her on a metal bench that he's pretty sure bears the mark of a drunken fight that someone had long ago. But it's the same metal bench in the same big room that it was when he first arrived. Nowhere in the Shatterdome seems to have really changed.

"So..." she starts, "who's that girl?"

"Molly?" Raleigh responds. "You know her, she's on Travis' crew." He takes a moment to study her expression. "Wait, are you jealous?"

"No," retorts Mako. "Why would I be jealous?"

"She's a total outsider, and she thinks my smile's cute. You're jealous." He smirks.

"I am not." Her voice is just above a normal volume.

"Yes, you are," he teases, trying to get a rise out of her. "And you think she's making a move on me."

"Why should I care if someone is trying to flirt with you? You're just Raleigh, so I congratulate you on getting anyone to look at you at all." She knows she's hitting below the belt, but she's mad at him for Molly and for knowing she's jealous and she's mad at herself for even feeling jealous.

"Thanks for your vote of confidence," he throws back at her before he snatches his tray and leaves the table.

Mako watches him leave, mentally berating herself for what she just said. _Stupid, stupid_. She's furious with herself now. She had buried the aftershocks alive, she's always known that even though she denied it, and she can feel them clawing their way to the surface to take their revenge.

Raleigh heads straight to the training rooms, and wraps his hands to give them what little protection the fabric can. He punches the bag, again and again and again.

_Mako doesn't snap like that, _he thinks. Punch. Punch. And again, _She's always in control of her emotions. _Punch. Punch. Kick.

Kick. Punch. Punch._ What the hell could have gotten this reaction out of her?_

That night, he closes the door and locks it. He's just too upset by her actions, his thoughts on what triggered her reaction too jumbled to let her near. When she comes to apologize, the door knob won't turn, and she knows exactly why he locked the door.

In the darkness of her own room, she sobs herself into a tumultuous sleep. It's the first time in over two years she has slept alone, and the first time she has ever felt this alone, so far from his reach.

* * *

_(1) "You're still hanging out with these fools?"_

_(2) "Hai" _ is a Japanese affirmative. The rest translates as "_Your Japanese has gotten better."_

_(3) "It better have! There's plenty of opportunity for practice now."_

Translations by Google Translate, except for "hai" which I have learned from watching a lot of anime.


	4. Bonds (alt title: Changes, pt2)

The next day, when Travis asks Teresa to talk about programming and the Jaeger AI and the Mark-III restoration program, neither Mako nor Raleigh comes to watch the filming. She notices and makes a mental note. When Travis is done and starts talking to Newt and Hermann, she takes Herc aside.

"They're mad at each other. I think Molly has something to do with it," he says before she can get a single word out.

"She's jealous and he's mad at her for denying it," she finishes for him. He nods. "I can think of someone else who was jealous, but she was jealous of someone's work."

"But she got over it, right?"

"For the most part. She made a friend out of someone who was jealous of the same man's death."

Herc reaches out and takes her hand. "And she's one of the few reasons he's still sane."

Teresa smiles at him. "So, should we give them time or call 'em out?"

"Give 'em time," he says. "God knows no one ever tried for us."

"That's because I would have punched anyone and no one had or has the balls to call the Marshal out."

He playfully punches at her, and they both laugh.

* * *

Travis arrives at dinner looking exhausted. Hermann and Newt are arguing over some minute detail of a theory, as they have been for the last hour and a half, and he is tired of hearing the two of them talk. "Tomorrow, I'd like to get footage of Shatterdome. Maybe re-trace the last days of the program," he announces.

Mako glances at Raleigh, who stares stubbornly at his food, two tables away with Teresa and Herc. There's so much she wants to say, but the words are getting stuck in her throat.

She doesn't even bother checking his door that night.

* * *

Herc and Teresa manage to do most of the guiding and talking while Travis and crew films the empty bay, the K-Science lab, the empty Ranger barracks. Raleigh and Mako follow at a distance. Neither says much.

They reach Marshal Pentacost's old quarters after lunch. Mako can feel her throat tighten, but she forces herself into the room. Despite her fears, there are no ghosts in the walls, and she doesn't hear anything but the sound of the fan. Raleigh steps up next to her and gives her hand a quick squeeze. Just enough to reassure her, because he doesn't want his co-pilot to feel alone in this, but she can feel the emotions that still radiate off of him.

Their next stop is the training rooms. Teresa unlocks the Kwoon, which is exactly as it was four years ago except for the added age to the mats and the thin layer of dust covering the equipment.

"Would Mr. Becket and Ms. Mori like to show us how it's done?" asks an enthusiastic Travis.

They shrug, and strip off their shoes and jackets. Mako tosses Raleigh a hanbo, and they begin.

They're both off, and even to someone as unversed as Travis, it's clear.

After a minute, Teresa announces that they should move on to LOCCENT, as it's much more interesting than the blank walls of the Kwoon. Travis agrees and asks if it's possible to get some more people in the room to recreate the old feel of the place. She agrees to try, and pulls out the walkie-talkie from her back pocket and starts talking into it. "We'll meet you in LOCCENT," she shouts at Mako and Raleigh as she closes the door. There is an unspoken command in her look: _sort this out or we're going to sort it out for you, Rangers_.

"You were slow," Raleigh finally says when the room is empty.

She responds by whipping the staff back around to stop a hair's breadth from his collarbone. "Really?"

And then they're fighting again, lashing out at each other completely, with strength fueled by anger.

"I'm sorry," Mako manages to get out between the clacking sounds of the hanbos meeting. She really is, and she really feels stupid for the whole thing, and she wants her Best Friend (she can only think of him in that capitalized title) back.

"Be specific," he grinds out.

"For telling your memory by accident." Clack. "For not being considerate of your feelings." Clack. "For being mean about Molly."

Raleigh scores a point. "Go on."

"What more is there for me to say?" Clack. Clack. A squeak as their feet move against the mats.

"You know what. Say it." She scores again.

"I," she raises the hanbo to block, "can't limit," she strikes out at his feet, "who you talk to."

He taps her shoulder. "Wrong." He knows and he knows she knows and some perverse part of him is not willing to let her apology settle the whole matter. He wants the entire truth out, even if he doesn't deserve it.

"I shouldn't have,"-Clack!-"said what I said at dinner,"-Clack!-"the other night." Her hanbo is next to his temple.

"Nope. Try again."

_He won't let it go. _"I was jealous."

He raises to block, but she manages to get his shoulder anyway.

"Apology accepted," he says. "And I should apologize for getting upset with you. I shouldn't have pushed you the way I did. It was wrong. Very wrong. Forgive me?"

She looks at the sincerity of his blue eyes. They've always been the central point of any of his expressions, turning light or dark to match his mood. At first, it had mesmerized her, since she was used to dark eyes that didn't diffuse the light. "Of course," she says. "Best two out of three?"

They fight twice more, with Mako coming out on top in the end. And something in the action of fighting brings them close, closer than they've been in years. Maybe it's being back in the Shatterdome, maybe it's the time-capsule nature of the place, maybe it's just the adrenaline of the duel, but Raleigh swears can feel her at the edge of his thoughts as if they're drifting again, and she hears the pattern of his thoughts as if through a haze of noise.

"What did Molly do that got you so bothered?" he asks as they sit on the edge of the mat and catch their breath. He can almost feel the answer, but he wants to hear it himself.

"She...got between us. I'm your co-pilot, and I don't want someone else getting close and replacing me."

So that was it. It was a sentiment that cadets had sometimes expressed after their first drift when they saw their co-pilot with other people. It was a reaction of both fear and possessiveness, born out of human nature mixed with the emptiness of Drift-Hangover. Raleigh had thought that the intense pressure of those days would have alleviated it. "Mako, the very nature of drifting means that you're irreplaceable. Even if it's been years since we've shared headspace."

She shakes her head. "I'm afraid of being alone. If someone could come between you and me, I would be by myself. The sensation is too much."

He wraps an arm around her shoulders. "That's just not possible. I'm never leaving you."

"Ever?"

"Ever," he assures her. "I promise that. You're stuck with me."

She laughs and leans into his side. "I guess I am."

"Anything else?" he queries in a light tone.

"You're not cute, even when you smile," she says. "You're very handsome." Probably the biggest admission she's ready to give, but she wants to give it.

He pulls her a little closer. "Maybe even sexy?" he teases and she ducks her head. "You're blushing," he says as she hides her face even more. "And that is cute. Not that you're not ordinarily beautiful, but that's just adorable."

She squishes herself alongside him in the tiny bunk that night, content just to be held and to hold.

* * *

**A/N: **Teresa McKinnie, the OC, is the result of my headcannon about the people behind the Jager AI. She was in the group that created the AI for the Mark-Is, and stuck around until the end and beyond. She's not a pilot, nor is she a Marshal. Over the years, she developed a strong friendship with the Mark-I pilots.

Among her more memorable quotes from the early days: "He's got a caterpillar growing on his lip." (In reference to Pentecost's mustache).

Always, feel free to review and tell me where all my typos and mess ups are.


	5. Finally

Travis and crew leave, but everyone else stays at the 'dome a while longer, just to enjoy the "class reunion". Herc smiles and laughs for the first time since Pitfall that Raleigh can remember, and he suspects that Teresa has something to do with it. That pair have been near inseparable, but whether they're spending time thinking about all the years they've been part of the program or are experimenting with a not-so-platonic relationship is a mystery.

"We've got some scientists collecting Drift data. Trying to improve it, understand it better. Seeing as how I'm looking at the only confirmed compatible pair left in the world...OK, one of two, but the others..." Teresa has never been one to completely end her statements and she tends to tack things to the end of her stories, but the question is understood.

Raleigh and Mako are both five shades of nervous when they sit down and let giddy scientists place the Pons on their heads. They're already attached to several different medical machines, their vitals being displayed for the entire room. The neurologist even has them hooked up to an EEG. For old time's sake, Tendo monitors the readouts of the actual Pons system and makes the announcement, "Neural handshake established."

Drifting like this is different from drifting for combat or the simulations. They have all the time in the world just to wander each other's minds without the pressuring thoughts of the upcoming fight. They can completely relax into their headspace and not process the outside world. They've each done it before, it was part of training back in the day, but there's never been an opportunity for this since Raleigh and Mako became the unit of Raleigh-Mako-Gipsy Danger, later to be only Raleigh-Mako  
Mako closes her eyes and loses herself in the Drift. She wanders through a thin grove of trees turning orange-yellow and plays on the tire swing he knew as a child. She smells homemade pumpkin pie (who knew that he had such a weakness?), and hears windchimes, and shares in the laughter of singing silly songs as a Cub Scout.

Raleigh watches as she closes her eyes and does the same. He plays in the ocean (back when it was clean and pure, or at least cleaner and purer), and tastes ramen and sake. He hears the sound of her father's forge, feels the embarrassment of spilling tea down her shirt in front of her crush, and touches the silk of her tiny, child-sized kimono.

They can hear the scientists "hmm"-ing and making comments about vitals and measurements and readouts, but they're distant to the sounds in the memories. They don't speak aloud, but they communicate in patterns of sounds and images with the occasional worded thought. It feels strange, at first, to be back in each other's minds, to hear the other's thoughts so fast.

Mako's nose itches, and the scientists note when they both raise their left hands to scratch. They write the event down on their pads

One of them (they'll never quite distinguish who, maybe it was both of them) thinks _future?_ and they walk towards the door with the brass knob and push it open. They're in the realm of dreams now, where the senses are dulled, since there is no real stimuli to sense. They both fear the return of kaiju, though Raleigh worries more than Mako. They share their various scenarios: both of them in a Jaeger again, training new Rangers, the possibility of commanding a Shatterdome as the Marshals. She wonders if the food would be any better. He laughs

_But what if they don't come back?_

The scene blurs and Raleigh knows Mako is showing him her vision. He's never really thought about it anyway, since the Academy is home enough for him. But she sees a house with a little garden in the back and a tree in the front. A kitchen cabinet is full of tea, and the sofa is soft and long enough for Raleigh to stretch out on. The floors are hardwood, but there's a rug in the living room. There's a kitchen table, and also the lower table with the bamboo mats. _We trade off_, she explains. Framed photos, ones that Raleigh took, hang in the hallway. The curtains are drawn back and the windows are open to let in the breeze. They keep a few mementos of their PPDC days on a shelf in their bedroom, where a handmade looking quilt covers the double bed. He almost asks why, but she can hear his almost-question and stumbles an answer that is little more than flashes of emotion and the single word _because_.

He likes her dreamhouse, and he wraps his arms around her from behind so he can rest his chin on her head. She knows his chin feels pointier in real life  
_I think we should add my workshop over there._ He points, and the building springs into existence in the backyard. He adds a cherry tree next to it. He has always wanted to see her surrounded by the pink blossoms, an image that he shares with her as he watches the tree grow and flower. (And anyway, he likes cherries.)

_If only it were that fast in real life._

They laugh.

_Anything else you want to add?_ she asks.

He builds a doghouse and adds a fluffy border collie.

_That's a good idea. I never had one growing up, but I wanted a dog._

_I know_, he says. _I'll even let you name her. Hopefully she never digs up your garden._

Mako frowns. _We'll put up a fence._ And sure enough, a wooden fence materializes around the garden.

The voice of a scientist cuts in, barely audible but also very loud. "Three minutes."

They make a final appraisal of the house, making little adjustments. He adds a vase of flowers to the table, and she adds a few beers to the refrigerator. They try adding three different blankets to the couch, but none satisfy. He says no to the idea of a cat. They reach the front door with the curtain pulled back from its glass window.

"One minute."

_One other thing_, thinks Raleigh. He's fallen in love with this future, with the idea of this house and being with her, and most importantly with _her_ (he had long before he stepped into her dreamhouse), but he feels like something is missing and he wants to make it not-missed.

_What?_

Next to the shoes that are clearly his boots and her flats (and her heels, and her running shoes, who would have guessed she liked shoes so much?), he adds a small pair to the mat, then looks at her nervously. His question, not explicitly asked, echos in his head so loudly he's sure the scientists can hear it

(The scientists make a note of the spike in his pulse and blood pressure. A split-second after, Mako's go up too. They attribute it to the imminent disengagement, though the numbers are a little higher than they'd expect.)

She smiles and adds another, smaller, pair. _Yes._ Those feelings she for so long held in check, did her best to ignore, but never forgot, fill her and spill over into him  
He returns the smile, and pulls her close against him, kissing her. But what he touches is just her dream-self, and suddenly he can't wait to leave the Drift, a thing he dreaded just moments ago.

_That's my favorite of your additions._ She grins. _How did you plan that?_

"Thirty Seconds."

_How could I have planned that? You didn't show me this until now._

_You didn't think about it?_ Her grin fades just a little

He responds with a flood of memories. She barely has time to process them all. He knows that she doesn't even try to look at some of them, she just does her best to store what she can.

"Ten. Nine." _I'll see you on the other side_. "Eight. Seven. Six." The scientist's voice becomes louder. "Five. Four." They head back to their respective minds. "Three. Two. One."

The machine turns all the way off, and reality assumes its normal place. They don't wait for the scientists to remove the devices from their heads, they pull them off themselves and cross the distance between their two chairs

Raleigh embraces Mako, picks her up and spins around. She laughs as she flies through the air

When her feet hit the floor again, she pulls his face towards hers and kisses him. A real kiss, their first kiss, and neither cares that Raleigh more or less proposed before it happened.

The scientists look at each other questioningly, confused by these actions. They've never seen this happen before.

Tendo hollers, "_Finally!_" and starts to clap. One by one, the scientists understand and join in his applause.

* * *

**A/N: **And with that little bit of cuteness, we conclude _A Matter of Trust_. Thank you to my readers, followers, and reviewers. Every one of your words means a lot to me.

~Still Waiting for Aliens


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